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Elon Musk loved that Lotus Esprit car/submarine from Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me so much, he dropped $866,000 to buy it in an auction two years ago. By the looks of it, though, that's not all he did: he also paid homage to Bond's transforming vehicle by using it as a Model S easter egg. If you have one of Tesla's best-selling EVs, just hold down the T button while on the entertainment system's menu to trigger the Access Code prompt. Yup, you guessed it -- you need to type Bond's number code into the box (hint: it has two zeros and a seven). The screen on your Model S dashboard should then show the Lotus Esprit sub and a "Depth"drop-down menu with the max option of 20,000 Leagues.

If someone tells you he's been sleeping in a car, you'd most likely think he's either traveling on a budget or going through a rough patch. And, you know what? Either answer's probably true -- unless he meant he's been renting a Tesla Model S to sleep in from Airbnb for $85 a night. Because, yes, that listing seriously exists. A man from Phoenix, Arizona has listed his electric car on the rent-a-place website, calling it the "world's first Tesla hotel." According to the listing, the Model S with an airbed in the back will be locked securely in his attached garage, though you'll also have access to his condo's kitchen and bathroom.

If you look at the changelog for Tesla's Model S, you'll see most of the updates have been minor bug fixes; it's fairly rare that the luxury electric vehicle gets upgraded with new features. Every once in a while, though, Elon Musk and co. unleash a meaty update and as it happens, today is one of those days. The company just released the (previously leaked) version 6.0 of its software, which adds a built-in calendar that syncs with your smartphone, along with a remote-start feature and traffic-based navigation to help you avoid the busiest roadways.%Gallery-slideshow216516%

A few weeks ago, Edmunds posted its findings after blazing the highways in Tesla's Model S for nearly a year and a half. In addition to falling short of the promised 265-mile range, a series of service trips saw the drive unit replaced three separate times. Today, CEO Elon Musk announced via the company blog that the warranty on that part has been extended to match the battery pack's infinite mile coverage. The unit will be replaced within eight years no matter the odometer reading. What's more, the new warranty terms apply to any Model S built thus far -- not just the popular 85kWh model cited in the report. "If we truly believe that electric motors are fundamentally more reliable than gasoline engines... then our warranty policy should reflect that," Musk noted in the post.

Take a Tesla Model S for a spin in the US or Europe, and you'll have the help of a integrated navigation system to help you find your way. In China, you'll have to unfold a traditional, paper map. Local drivers are learning that the country's aversion to Google services keeps Tesla from employing its usual map solution, leaving the sedan unequipped to guide its users through the streets of Shanghai. It's an unfortunate situation, but it won't last forever -- Tesla says that it's working on a solution that supports Chinese voice and text recognition, and expects to update cars in the Chinese market with navigation features later this year. Check out Asysha Webb's ChinaEV blog at the source link below for Tesla's full statement.

Amidst a recent spate of Model S fires, Tesla has upgraded the software on the EV to prevent unsafe charging, according to a tweet from Tesla S owner @ddenboer. If input power fluctuations are outside a safe range, the software will automatically reduce the charging current by 25 percent -- from 40 amps to 30, for instance. The change is supposedly a response to a recent Tesla S blaze, which happened in a California garage in November. Citing investigators, Tesla said the incident wasn't caused by the EV but by an overheated wall charger in the garage, a problem that the system can apparently now detect and help mitigate. Meanwhile, per Tesla's request, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still looking into several recent fires, two of which were caused by road debris puncturing the batteries. Though the company has already changed the warranty to cover any and all fire damage, CEO Elon Musk hopes that such an inquiry will prove that the Model S is safe.

Tesla Motors' Supercharger Corridor, which runs from San Diego to Vancouver, is now open for business. It enables the Model S to quickly recharge for free at a variety of locations along the West Coast of North America. At least six of those locations are already installed, and Tesla says "more than 99 percent of Californians and 87 percent of Oregon and Washington owners are now within 200 miles of a Supercharger." Company head Elon Musk says the West Coast leg of the supercharger network is just the beginning: "East Coast Supercharger network should be complete in a few months." A handful of locations already exist in the Northeast.

The newly opened West Coast network follows Interstate 5 and US Highway 101, enabling passage across long stretches for folks otherwise tethered to a wall charge. Two demonstration vehicles are taking a 1,750-mile journey from San Diego to Vancouver (read: a PR stunt) using solely Superchargers for power along the way.

Tesla's four-door Model S has been trickling into North American garages for a couple of years now, and it seems that production has ramped up enough to finally begin deliveries internationally. Starting today, Model S buyers across various ponds will begin to see stock appear. As seen above, the action is starting in Oslo, Norway, where that guy in the driver seat looks particularly charged up about the parade that awaits. Sorry. It seemed funnier in the moment.

There they were, a caravan of nine electric car enthusiasts with a lot of free time on their hands, "tearing" down North America's west coast in a bunch of environmentally conscious vehicles. That was just last week in what organizer Tony Williams called the All Electric Vehicle Rally, and nearly all nine participants arrived in the rally's end location of Tijuana, Mexico.

The convoy started in Blaine, Washington and took to I-5 in four chunks. This year a Tesla Model S piloted by Jack Bowers and Georg Kuhnke arrived first, with just 41 hours of driving time -- a far cry from the eight days and five hours the course took Williams last year. The approximately 1,400 miles were covered by the winner at an average speed of about 34 MPH. Sadly, one Nissan Leaf owner got stuck charging their car for 15 hours in California due to a lack of CHADEMO chargers en route. Despite years of promises, CHADEMO sites haven't made their way south of the Oregon/California border as part of the west coast's Green Highway. Still, that we've reached the point where even some EVs can clear that many miles in under two days using only public chargers is pretty impressive.

We may still be looking for excuses to wear Google Glass in the office, but the headset's peripheral display is becoming more and more appealing in the garage: someone just made a Tesla Model S Glass app. The simply named GlassTesla is an unofficial suite of headgear accessible controls for the electric sedan, allowing users to start and stop charging, check battery levels, remotely lock doors and monitor and adjust the vehicle's temperature controls. More features are on the way too -- Sahas Katta, the app's creator, told Engadget that he's working on voice control ("ok glass, unlock my car"), charge completion notification and real-time vehicle tracking. Not bad, if you happen to own both a Tesla Model Sand Google Glass. All three of you can find the app at the source link below.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

In April of 2011, we spent some time in the driver's seat of the Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport. Its throttle response and dashing good looks earned high marks, but the range anxiety left a bit to be desired. Now it's the winter of 2013, and in the latest issue of our weekly, we settle in behind the wheel of the Model S to determine if Tesla's refined offering has the chops to lead the EV fleet. Of course, these vehicles need a place torecharge, so Eyes-On visits one of the aforementioned outfit's Superchargers that look to make roadtrips a reality for electric vehicles. Aside from the automotive features, OUYA devs sound off on the pros and cons of the console while we put both the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart and Microsoft's Surface Pro through their respective paces. There's much more than we can pack into a single paragraph, so visit your weekly access link to grab a copy.

As we cover the mobile industry, where the evolution of devices and processors is relentless, we're used to being impressed. We're used to seeing a new generation of a product that instantly and irrevocably makes the previous one look tame. It's just the way this world turns. However, that's not something we're used to seeing in the automotive world, where each new model year is typically such a minor step forward that without the addition of new creases or wings to the body, bigger wheels and more boisterous badges on the trunk, you'd hardly spot the improvements.

That's not the case with the Tesla Model S. It comes not long after the retirement of the Tesla Roadster, a car we thoroughly enjoyed but found a bit too raw, a bit too rough around the edges for general consumption. The Model S is so much more refined, so much more polished that you can hardly compare the two. Yet they come from the same company and have one similar, defining characteristic: neither burns a drop of fuel. Join us after the break for an exploration of what makes Tesla's latest EV such an amazing ride -- and where the company must improve if it truly wants to compete with the BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes of the world.

Sending commands to a Tesla Model S via a native smartphone app is already old hat for iPhone users who have one of Musk and Co.'s electric chariots, but Android users are just now getting their first crack at a dedicated app. Google Play has finally been graced with a beta version of the software, packing the look and features of its iOS counterpart. Armed with the application, Model S owners can remotely control charging, keep tabs on the car's battery level, adjust the cabin's climate, find and track the auto on a map, trigger door locks and more. Regarding bugs in the beta, Tesla warns that some UI glitches are on its radar. Jab the bordering source link for the download.

We already knew the Tesla Model S was fast, but not this fast. After dropping a 12.371 quarter mile this past weekend at the Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida (@ 110.84 MPH), the National Electric Drag Racing Association awarded the Tesla Model S its stamp of officiation for being "the quickest production vehicle" in quarter mile tests. That's not just on a single pass, mind you, but several quarter mile runs over the course of a day at the track. Each pass reaffirmed a 12-second average from the 416HP electric beast -- more than proficient for a 4,700-lb hulk of metal, and more than competitive against much lighter and more expensive beasts. And that's all without internal combustion, lest you forget -- the thing even gets 350 miles per charge. Drag Times attended the event and promises video in the coming days, but for now you can peep the quarter mile timeslips and read their rundown.

The budget version of the Tesla Model S, with its 60 kWh battery pack has been delayed. But that didn't stop the more wallet-friendly EV from swinging by the EPA. It seems that lighter power source has led to a slightly increased efficiency, though a decreased range. The 60 kWh version will supposedly run out of juice after 208 miles, which translates into 95 MPGe. That's not bad considering the higher-end 85 kWh version clocks in at 89 MPGe, with an EPA estimated range of 265 miles. Then again, it seems that rating is a bit conservative, as one father and son team managed 405 miles on a single 85 kWh charge. At just shy of $70,000, the "mid-range" Tesla S is still quite a pricey proposition. We'll just have to wait and see if "budget" model with its 40 kWh battery and $60,000 price tag is any more of a value.

We already know from our own experience that the Tesla Model S is a driver's car, with acceleration and handling you wouldn't expect from a big and quiet luxury sedan. There's still nothing like a drag race to help settle the matter. Automobile has pitted the upscale EV against one of its more conspicuous rivals, BMW's M5, with performance results that might surprise those who would expect a 500HP, twin-turbo V8 to regularly come out on top. While we won't spoil the full results of the showdown video after the break, let's just say that even the M5's relatively wide torque band can only do so much when the Model S' electric motor is always at its peak. BMW's car may be better overall for those who want to travel long distances outside of certain routes, or to enjoy a burly exhaust note -- but there has to be a certain thrill for Tesla drivers who know they can hang with the speed kings while helping the environment.

Sure, topping off a Model S in 30 minutes with a Supercharger is awfully handy, but production delays of the sedan will keep some future owners away from quick charge times -- and most importantly -- their cars for a little while longer. In a freshly published filing with the US Securities Exchange and Commission, Tesla revealed that it hasn't reached its goal of producing 400 Model S vehicles a week, which places them four to five weeks behind their 2012 delivery expectations. To date, just 255 of the autos have rolled off the assembly line, 132 of which have made their way to new homes. According to the Palo Alto-based outfit, ramping up production has been slower than expected for a number of reasons, including supplier delays and taking a deliberately measured pace for quality assurance purposes.

Before the year draws to a close, Musk and Co. anticipate meeting their goal of churning out 400 cars each week, and a total of 20,000 by the end of 2013. Currently, the automaker has racked up around 13,000 reservations and thinks it'll be working to fulfill even more throughout 2013. As a result of the manufacturing lag, the firm has slashed its revenue forecast by as much as $200 million, estimating it'll rake in anywhere from $400 million to $440 million this year. In an effort to add cash to its coffers, the company is putting up roughly 5 million shares of stock for sale. Who's buying, you say? Tesla mentioned its CEO Elon Musk is interested in putting down a cool million bucks.

Tesla founder Elon Musk would like to remind you that the Model X isn't the terminus of his company's electric car ambitions. Far from it: Musk tells Wired that Tesla's 2016 plans include both a crossover SUV akin to the BMW X3 as well as a pure sports car that goes beyond just a Roadster redux. The racier vehicle will have speed, but "not supercar pricing," the CEO says. He also elaborated on already-known plans for an 'entry' sedan in 2015, which should resemble a 20 to 25 percent smaller Model S and cost about $30,000 if all goes well. There's a wide gap between promises and reality in all those statements, but Musk has a reputation for largely delivering on target -- which gives us hope that there will finally be Tesla EVs within range of everyday budgets.

So you drop $50,000+ on a Tesla Model S -- then what? The all-electric automaker offered some more details on what folks can expect in the ensuing years on its blog this week, detailing service plans and software updates, and what it'll all cost. On that latter point, you can expect to pay $600 for a basic one-year service plan, or opt for a four-year package that'll set you back $1900 -- on-site visits are available for an extra $100, or as part of a four-year, $2400 plan that includes unlimited on-site visits. To provide that service, Tesla has also announced that it's nearly tripling its number of service centers, which it says will mean there's a service center within 100 miles of more than 90 percent of Model S reservation holders. What's more, it's also offered some details on what those owners will see in future software updates, including an optional "creep" mode that will mimic the slow, forward roll of a car with an automatic transmission. You can find more details and a full list of service centers at the links below.